Chevrolet Finishes Off Trailblazer, Captiva SUVs

With Chevrolet pulling out of the Thai market by the end of the year (including manufacturing), the American carmaker has announced the end of sale of its two SUVs manufactured there: the Captiva and Trailblazer.

This comes as Chevrolet continues to hold its “Hot Deal Sale,” which is basically a liquidation sale on remaining inventory. With discounts amounting to about 249,000 Baht (P 393,000~), Thai buyers took the opportunity to snap up all remaining Trailblazer and Captiva SUVs.

The remaining model with stocks is the Colorado pickup truck. However, Chevrolet Thailand says that with discounts of up to 200,000 Baht (P 316,000~), they expect to finish off all remaining inventory there before the end of their fire sale on July 31.

Despite Chevrolet’s decision to pull out of the Thailand market (and subsequently all manufacturing in Southeast Asia), the company is assuring owners that they will continue to provide aftersales service and genuine parts.

The Covenant Car Company, Inc. (TCCCI), the exclusive distributor of Chevrolet vehicles in the Philippines has also assured customers that sales and aftersales will continue unimpeded.

Chevrolet Partners with SAIC on New Joint-Venture Plant for International Markets

The all-new Chevrolet Captiva starts production at a new joint-venture plant in Thailand that will serve both the Thai domestic market and other international markets, likely including the Philippines as well.

The new plant is a joint-venture between Chevrolet and SAIC-GM-Wuling (SGMW), enabling the Captiva to return to global markets. It will also enable Chevrolet to grow its product portfolio, increasing the potential for China market products such as the second-generation Orlando and Tracker to be built in Thailand, and exported from there.

The Captiva will be built with the same “Built-In Quality” or BIQ principle already seen with the Colorado and Trailblazer.

According to Chevrolet, BIQ is fundamentally different compared to the way other automakers operate. Typically, quality inspections are done before vehicles leave the line or plant. This containment approach, known as “quality inspected in,” has several weaknesses. It depends on the ability of quality inspectors to spot problems and requires undoing faults by dismantling and refitting vehicles. To do it that way is time-consuming and costly.

The decision to partner with SAIC-GM-Wuling for the all-new Captiva signals a new era for Chevrolet and will enable both parties to share products, technologies, and manufacturing processes.

The all-new Captiva first originated in Mainland China as the Baojun 530. It is packed with one of the roomiest interiors in the compact crossover segment, enabling engineers to fit seven seats. It also comes with LED headlights and a panoramic sunroof.

Under the hood is a 1.5-liter turbocharged engine with 148 horsepower and 250 Nm of torque. Thanks to a low-inertia turbo that comes into play as low as 1,000 rpm, the peak torque is actually achieved at just 1,600 rpm. Mated to the engine is a CVT with multiple modes. It’s also offered in some markets with a 2.0-liter turbodiesel engine borrowed from the Jeep Compass.

Chevrolet Looks to China for Next-Generation Captiva

As Chevrolet was looking for a replacement to its Daewoo-engineered Captiva crossover, they turned to Baojun, the Mainland China joint-venture between SAIC and GM. The result is that hey got a Baojun 530, changed a few things and voila, here’s the 2019 Captiva. The odd thing is that SAIC’s also going to market the Baojun 530 as the MG Hector. How’s that for a plot twist?

The kicker here is that in the Philippines, Chevrolet and MG are both distributed by the same company, The Covenant Car Company, Inc. (TCCCI). In fact, you could go as far to say they’re joined at the hip because they pretty much share the same dealer network, too. Thus, if the Baojun 530 does make its way locally, there’s an equal chance it’ll be badged as a Chevy or an MG (our bets are it’ll be an MG).

Regardless of whatever badge it’ll have when it gets here, the Baojun 530 / Chevrolet Captiva / MG Hector has a rather peculiar exterior styling marked by its split headlight design. Baojun calls it “Future Eye” while Chevy marketers are still trying to come up with a fancy name for it.

Under the hood is a 1.5-liter turbocharged engine with 148 horsepower and 250 Nm of torque. Thanks to a low-inertia turbo that comes into play as low as 1,000 rpm, the peak torque is actually achieved at just 1,600 rpm. Mated to the engine is a CVT with multiple modes. Unsurprisingly, in India, it’s offered with a 2.0-liter turbodiesel engine borrowed from the Jeep Compass.

Setting the Baojun / Chevrolet / MG apart from its competitors, it’ll be offered in both 5- and 7-seater configurations. And get this, it’ll be priced between the B- and C-segment crossover class and yet, it’ll have features like LED headlights, a panoramic sunroof, and more. For those curious, in China that means an SRP starting at RMB 88,800 (~P 695,000), while in Thailand, they’ve promised an SRP of below one million Baht (~P 1.66 million).